The Great Hypothetical: Joe Paterno creates his "Eastern Football Conference" in the 80's.

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Let's say that in the late 80's, when Joe Paterno approached Syracuse, Boston College, WVU, and Pittsburgh on behalf of Penn State to create an Eastern/Northeastern Football Conference, that the teams, rather than stay committed to the Big East, went along with it and created it. Penn State never joins the Big Ten. Let's say the Conference looks like this in its modern form:

Boston College
Syracuse
Penn State
Pittsburgh
West Virginia
Rutgers
Maryland
Temple (For the requisite 8)
Virginia Tech (1991)
Miami (1991)
Florida State (1991)
Louisville (1991, after that Fiesta Bowl)

What effect would this conference have had on the College Football landscape? For basketball it basically would mean the Big East would become an A-10 like conference. For football, this would mean the ACC would get hurt quite a bit, but how many National Championships could a conference like this have gotten between 1991 to the present?

Well, lets add the already existing titles: Miami has won two, and FSU has won two (although one was against Va Tech).

I actually really like the diversity of this conference. There is a fair number of NE schools and SE schools. However, the dominance come from having three Pennsylvania schools and two Florida schools. No other state has more than one school in this conference, but almost every school is connected in a string fashion, except for Florida which is pretty isolated with no schools in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina or Tennessee. I feel like it is a very balanced conference with the "South division" being broken up to:

Miami
Florida State
Louisville
Maryland
Va Tech
West Virgina

That has a very "Southern" feel to it, while the North feels very much like a "Northern" conference:

Penn State
Temple
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Syracuse
Boston College

It feels like you have two separate conferences, with two distinct playing styles meshed into one. The title game would be very interesting to say the least.

As far as how it would affect the other conferences, the ACC would take a hit losing Maryland, as they were an original member (I believe). The North Carolina schools pretty much own the conference, and it has always been a more basketball centric conference anyways, but losing out on what Florida State ended up bringing them through football would be a big deal and add to the fact their football teams pretty much underwhelm every year. Va Tech has been a great addition as of late, but Miami hasn't really brought anything to the table football wise since their addition. BC has a good football program, and a decent basketball one, but they truly feel like a Big East schools anyways.

The Big East would be gone as we know it. It would have the A10 feel to it and just be one of those really good, but not great conferences. It would affect Notre Dame because all of their other sports play in the Big East for the "prestige" factor. With no Big East to turn to, how long does their football independence exist? The Big Ten surely wouldn't add ND's other sports with no football. Syracuse and Louisville are basketball powerhouses. Also, the Big East losing what Miami brought them before their move to the ACC in football would be sorely missed. Take out traditional programs like Pitt and West Virginia, and forget about it. This conference is pretty elite across the board.

The Big Ten isn't really affected. Penn State has had some good years in the conference the last 20 years, but more bad than good ones and they haven't REALLY impacted the conference in basketball. In football, it is still a Michigan/Ohio State conference and in basketball, Indiana and Michigan State still rule (throw in Illinois as well). the Big Ten, IMO, is the least affected of all the conferences here. They probably would have turned the heat up on Notre Dame since at the time of Penn States admittance, ND was still a consistent Top 10 program.

To conclude, the Big East would never have been given an AQ for the BCS in 1998 because it would be marginalized as a football conference, or more likely would not even be a D1-A Football Conference. The ACC would have never expanded to 12 and would still be viewed as a North Carolina dominated, basketball oriented conference, and we would view it now like we currently view the Big East (I could see the ACC having gone after a Georgetown for basketball with the loss of Maryland, as well as competing with the SEC for South Carolina in 1991). The Big Ten doesn't care about Penn State, but does worry about the super conference, with both North and South roots, taking over as the best conference in the nation for football(this is before the SEC emergence as the best football conference).

I could see a scenario where not only does Joe Paterno get into the Hall of Fame as a coach, but he is also enshrined as a visionary and as one of the greatest football minds of all time for setting up what could be one of the best all around athletic conferences in the nation. It would have balance in football power houses (Miami, Florida State, Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College and West Virginia) as well as dominating basketball schools (Louisville, Syracuse, Temple, Maryland, Boston College). Throw in how Va Tech has emerged as a football program, and how Pitt and WVU have become great basketball institutions, and you have what could have been the greatest conference in the land for revenue sports.

Now finally, to the question posed. How many National Championships does this conference win? Lets go off of actual historical finishes, and no hypothetical, Syracuse never entering the Dark Ages scenarios.

You'd have to assume more National Championships our won in this conference, probably from Florida State and Miami not losing some of their games, but there is a good possibility a team like Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Penn State, or West Virginia could have won a NC somewhere in the mix. What do you think?